WORLD AGENDA AUGUST 2013

August 1, United States: Two new laws come into effect in North Dakota giving the state the strictest limits on abortion in the country. The state's only abortion clinic is likely to close, leaving an 800 square-mile area without a provider.

August 1, United Kingdom: A month-long campaign encouraging women not to shave their armpit hair is launched by feminists and health campaigners. Armpits4August wants women to stop grooming and consider whether they feel under pressure to conform.

August 3, Dubai: Hassan Rouhani, who won a landslide victory in June's election, takes office as President of Iran. The mid-ranking Shia Muslim cleric has called for more freedom and openness for citizens at home and better relations abroad.

August 5, Istanbul: Verdicts are due in the five-year trial of 275 defendants, including former military chief Ilker Basbug, accused of plotting to topple the Turkish government. Members of secular arch-nationalist group Ergenekon were charged with carrying out extra-judicial killings and bombings.

August 9, Prague: The newly sworn in cabinet of Czech president Milos Zeman is expected to lose a vote of confidence in parliament. Rejection is set to prolong political uncertainty in the central European nation, long seen as a safe haven among emerging economies.

August 10-18, Moscow: Russia hosts the World Athletics Championships despite unease over the high number of Russian athletes suspended for doping offences. Over 35 athletes are currently serving bans. The championships take place at the Luzhniki stadium before it closes for renovations for the 2018 World Cup.

August 14, Manama: Authorities in Bahrain have warned people not to join protests planned by a new opposition campaign named after Egypt's Tamarod movement. Over 60 people have died since pro-democracy protests broke out in the island kingdom in 2011.

August 19, Johannesburg: The trial of Oscar Pistorius begins, with the world agog to see how South Africa's most sensational murder case will unfold. The "Blade Runner" athlete is accused of shooting dead girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp earlier this year.

August 25, Addis Ababa: The winner of Big Brother Africa, the pan-continental version of the reality television show, scoops US$300,000 as Ethiopian contestant Betty Abera faces possible criminal charges. Abera, who appeared to have sex with a housemate, has also faced death threats.

August 28, Washington: The 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech falls as tensions flare over civil rights. Protest has followed the recent acquittal in Florida of George Zimmerman for the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin.

August 28, Venice: The oldest film festival in the world opens its 70th year with Gravity, a 3D thriller by Alfonso Cuaron starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. The Venice Film Festival takes place on the city's famous Lido.

Late August (undated), Seoul/Tokyo: United Nations investigators interview North Korean exiles about alleged labour camps, torture and kidnappings in the authoritarian state. They will hold public hearings and interview witnesses in South Korea and Japan as part of a one-year human rights inquiry.
/ENDS